Seeds sown for 75th anniversary

Optimism is high at T & T Seeds as it prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary. This past year alone, owner Jarrett Davidson said the company experienced eight per cent sales growth. Significantly, much of that growth, he says, has been online with e-commerce sales representing close to 40 per cent of T and T’s retail business.

"Not many businesses make it to 75 years," Davidson said. "We want to do our best to celebrate our anniversary but also, we’re excited about Manitoba’s 150th birthday and the opportunity it gives us to promote the many products that have been developed in Manitoba."

Davidson started planning for these exciting milestones when he purchased T & T Seeds three years ago from former owners, Brian and Kevin Twomey, both of whom continue to be involved with the company. While many retail garden centres no longer supply catalogues, T and T Seeds prints 100,000 annually. When the colourful catalogues of 100-plus pages start to arrive in mailboxes next week, subscribers will notice a number of new initiatives that this community-minded business is launching.

T & T Seeds sells between 250,000 and 300,000 seed packets annually and carries 160 different varieties of trees and shrubs that it sells to customers across Canada. Eighty of those varieties are trees. In September, when Winnipeg’s Mayor Brian Bowman called for a strategy to plant a million trees over the next 20 years, T & T Seeds decided to push the envelope by launching its own 10,000-tree project. The 10,000-tree project aims to make available a range of hardy selections including ornamentals and fruit trees, as well as species suitable for shelterbelts and windbreaks that are sold as young saplings in bundles of two or more.

"An alarming number of trees have been lost across Canada due to all sorts of environmental-related issues and it will take many, many trees to reforest our communities," Davidson said. By making trees available starting at two to a bundle for as little as $19.95 (the price is lower if you buy multiple bundles), the path to reforestation will be faster and easier. The beauty of planting trees when they are young is that the roots establish so easily and readily. But just how young are they? Davidson says the saplings will range in height from 45 to 60 cm. "Most of the trees will grow 90 to 120 cm in the first year," says Davidson.

One of the varieties available is Sundancer Poplar, a new generation poplar hybrid that is seedless and has resistance to Bronze leaf disease. This fast-growing variety has a narrow mature width of three metres. Choose from Little Leaf Linden, Japanese Tree Lilac, Paper Birch, Black Hills spruce, and many more varieties. The hope is that the 10,000-tree project will encourage people to plant trees as well as to reap the health and wellness benefits of trees. "Families can plant trees together and enjoy watching them grow," Kevin Twomey said. There is no limit to the number of trees that can be purchased.

The Manitoba 150 symbol appears throughout the catalogue and identifies plants that have been developed in Manitoba. One example is Pinktini lilac, a new introduction for 2020 from Jeffries Nurseries in Portage la Prairie. A cross between Charisma lilac and Miss Canada lilac, Pinktini is a non-suckering dwarf variety with bright pink panicles. Another example is the specially named Manitoba Collection consisting of three varieties of tomatoes bred especially for cooler climates. Prairie Pride tomato comes from George Luther’s former tomato breeding program at the University of Manitoba. Charlie’s Red Staker and Manitoba tomato were both developed by research scientist Charlie Walkof at the Morden Research Station.

The catalogue highlights numerous other prairie-bred introductions such as Evan’s Extra Early tomato developed by Dr. Leaun Evans from Devon, Alta., and TreasuRed columnar apple tree, an introduction from the University of Saskatchewan. Perfect for tight spaces, TreasuRed’s mature width is a mere one to 1.2 metres. It grows to a height of four metres.

Next spring, once the weather warms up, customers can order sweet potato slips from T and T Seeds. Covington sweet potato is an improved early variety with bright orange flesh and is great for mashing or roasting. Locally grown, the spray-free sweet potato slips will be delivered by Canada Post along with instructions on how to grow them. All of T and T Seeds plants are listed on its website.

For the first time, T&T Seeds and the Nature Conservancy of Canada have partnered to develop two seed mixes that represent an eco-friendly blend of native grass and flower seed. Davidson said the idea originated with former Crampton’s owner Erin Crampton who is one of Manitoba’s regional board members for NCC.

"Grasslands are among the most endangered ecosystems on the planet and are an integral part of Canada’s heritage," said Kevin Teneycke, regional vice-president for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Manitoba Region.

"Through the Grassland Campaign, the Nature Conservancy of Canada is working to conserve the nation’s most important grasslands and their ecological and heritage values. These mixes represent a selection of plants that can be found on different grasslands across Canada, however grassland ecosystems vary from place to place, with many different types occurring even within a province. These two mixes include species that can be found in some grasslands in these provinces," he says.

The Western Grasslands mix, for example, includes perennial grasses such as Blue grama, Sideoats grama, Sand dropseed, and Prairie Junegrass. Also included in the mix are perennial wildflower species such as yellow blanket flower, prairie coneflower, and blue-flowered Lewis flax.

"The seeds in these packages are intended for ornamental use in flower gardens," Teneycke said. "While they represent plant species that can be found in different types of grasslands, in different parts of Canada, they do not occur naturally in all areas, are not sourced from local genetics and are not intended for planting in natural spaces or for native plant restoration purposes."

Why not take a kinder, gentler approach to your garden design with a planting scheme for biodiversity that is both sustainable and romantic? Native grasses and wildflower species, in particular, provide habitat for native pollinators as well as long-lasting colour and texture.

A portion of the proceeds from the purchase of the two mixes will be donated to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Next door to T and T Seeds is its newest acquisition, Crampton’s Market, which will now be open year-round. It’s been a good marriage, Davidson said. Together, T and T Seeds and Crampton’s Market are situated on 40 acres, five of which are used for trialing and evaluating new varieties as well as for testing products and different growing methods. With an eye on the future, Davidson plans to expand and develop this area to include different test and demonstration gardens that will help his customers to understand more about growing plants and their own food.

Wish you had a T & T Seed catalogue? Pick one up for free while supplies last at T & T Seeds, 7724 Roblin Blvd, Headingley.

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